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Tillitson (George E.) collection on railroads
M0165
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: George E. Tillitson collection on railroads
creator:
Tillitson, George E.
Identifier/Call Number: M0165
Physical Description:
50.5 Linear Feet
(9 cartons and 99 manuscript storage boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1880-1959
Abstract: Notes on the history of railroads in the United States and Canada.
The collection is open for research. Note that material is stored off-site and must be requested at least 36 hours in advance
of intended use.
Gift of George E. Tillitson, 1955.
One very useful feature of the material is further described in the two attached pages. This is the carefully annotated study
of a good many of the important large railroads of the United States complete within their own files, these to be found within
the official state of incorporation. Here will be included page references to the frequently huge number of small short-line
roads that usually wound up by being “taken in” to the larger and expending Class II and I roads. Some of these files, such
as the New York Central or the Pennsylvania Railroad are very big themselves.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington are large because the many lumber railroads have been extensively studied out.
Within the State file for Washington, the lumber railroads make a separate alphabetical order.
signed: W.B.B., Palo Alto, May 15, 1955
Anyone wishing to become thoroughly familiar with the transportation background of an area - a state or a regional section
of the United States or Canada - can do so through the medium of this manuscript.
Such a study can be concentrated on a given portion of time - early, or “Railroads of Oregon in 1900”, etc. - or as to type
of carrier, or mode of power, steam, electric - and the companies operating, trackage involved and other pertinent data readily
assembled.
Equipment - particularly motive power - is usually tabulated. Very Little operating data is given as to amount and number
of trains daily; nor are there very often maps except for the larger company files. Timetables were not in this portion of
the material.
[Identification of item] George E. Tillitson collection on railroads (M0165), Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Collection contains outlined corporate histories of railroads primarily in the United States and Canada. The collection covers
almost every railroad that ever operated in the United States and Canada and includes some records of roads that were projected
though never built, and some information on street car lines and electric interurban lines. The vast majority of the materials
are notebook paper information about railroad lines, however there is a small amount of original material such as investigation
reports, tariff tables, time tables, maps, postcards, photographs, newspaper clippings, and company magazines.
The railroad outlines are in long hand on loose leaf 8 1/2 x 11 inches notebook paper. They include dates of incorporation,
brief sketches of the history of the line, lists of points served, lists of mileage, and occasionally time schedules, maps
of lines, and lists or reports of accidents on the lines. Unfortunately, the collection is incomplete, and the information
provided is much more extensive for the larger lines.
Information is arranged alphabetically by state and, within the state, alphabetically by name of company. An index of all
companies listed in the files has been provided by the collector. Some of the companies listed have very little information.
The letters listed after the state, country or province represent the alphabetical range of the companies contained within
that folder.
The Tillitson Manuscript is essentially a Railroad List which is unique in the degree of detail.
The area covered is the Continental United States and Canada, with some material on Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and
a little on Mexico.
The listings within a state are a single alphabetical listing of all Railroads (public carriers), Street Railways (of all
types), Private Railroads (logging and construction chiefly here) and a few others.
This includes all railroads, including ones conceived, yet never built, by chance that many were incorporated, but few built:
Likewise, a vast number of early, independently built short lines became absorbed into the greater large company operations;
other railroads built as separate entities were actually subsidiaries or owned companies; and a vast confusion came to exist
through reorganization and changes of name due to bankruptcies and similar troubles.
These myriad changes have produced a tremendously complex structure, to which this material provides a useful and available
key for students.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Railroads -- United States -- History
Railroads -- Canada -- History
Tillitson, George E.